Saint Jose Sanchez del Rio

José Luis "Joselito" Sánchez del Río (March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928) was a Mexican Cristero put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the part of government officials in their attempt to stamp out dissent and crush religious freedom in the area. He was declared venerable on June 22, 2004, by Pope John Paul II and was beatified on November 20, 2005, in Mexico. On January 21, 2016, Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him, allowing for his canonization; he was made a saint on October 16, 2016. The Cristero War started when the government began eliminating the religious rights of Catholics and after it closed the churches and started seizing church properties throughout the country, in accordance with anti-clerical laws written into the Mexican Constitution. President Plutarco Elías Calles, who took office in 1924, focused on the Roman Catholic Church, which led to seizure of church property, the closing of religious schools and convents, and the exile or the execution of priests. José Luis Sánchez del Río was born on March 28, 1913, in Sahuayo, Michoacán. He attended school first in his hometown, then in Guadalajara in Jalisco. When the Cristero War broke out in 1926, his brothers joined the rebel forces, but his mother would not allow him to take part. The rebel general, Prudencio Mendoza Alcazar, also refused his enlistment. The boy insisted that he wanted the chance to give his life for Jesus Christ and so come to Heaven easily. Mendoza relented and allowed José to become the flagbearer of the troop. The Cristeros nicknamed him Tarcisius, after the early Christian saint who was martyred for protecting the Eucharist from desecration. During heavy fighting on January 25, 1928, a soldier named Mendoza had his horse killed and José gave his horse to the man so that he could flee.